Pride, Love and Dreams
by geororo
Summary: Seated upon the throne of bodies was a reflection of himself with a sinister smile carved on his face and his hand reached towards him. "Come, you can no longer deny who you are." -AU and rated T for mild language in future chapters- -On Hold-
1. Prologue: The Master

_Prologue - The Master_

**5th August 2002**  
><strong>London, United Kingdom<strong>

A man dressed in brown Armani suit traced his fingers on the wine rack before selecting a bottle and used a corkscrew on it before pouring its contents into a crystal wineglass. He placed the bottle beside a photo of a family; a little boy sitting on his shoulder and a woman embracing his arm, all of them smiling happily. Upon a closer look on the bottle, one could observe a line; '_Romanée-Conti'_ written prominently on the label of the bottle. The man then sauntered to the glass windows.

He threw his gaze onto the busy streets of London below him. Everyone was scurrying to their workplace, trying not to be late. It was the same thing occurring everyday. How boring. The said man averted his gaze to the clouds above. It was dark and gloomy; almost like the nature itself was grieving. Finally, he shifted his attention to the article in his hand. He looked upon the dark liquid and saw a reflection of himself, smiling. No. Not this day. Today, I shall be the winner.

The wineglass was raised, as if as a toast to someone who was only in his imagination. The scent of the red French Burgundy lingered around him. He could detect the smells of berries, spices and leather. The aroma was rich and penetrating without being too profound. Slowly, he took a sip from the wineglass. As soon as the dark liquid touched his sensitive tongue, the man savoured the flavours of soy sauce, flowers and liquorice left behind. The Dom. Romanée Conti is indeed a very rare wine that has carved a niche for itself along the years, thought the man to himself.

His pleasure however, quickly ended with a knock on the door. With a sigh, the man placed the article on the table and turned slowly to face the door. "Enter."

A lady smartly dressed and wore nigh invisible make-up entered the scene. Her speech was formal, with a hint of respect in it. "Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, but there is someone who wishes to speak with you. He said that it is very important." She handed the phone to the man and bowed down before excusing herself.

Before the man could even ask for the caller to introduce himself, he was surprised that he was being addressed by his real name.

"Chairman Ayasaki, rescind your operation and call your agents off."

The man called Ayasaki was stunned for a moment. How did they…no. There's no way that anyone would find out about it. Absolutely none. This might be a prank call from someone or just another reporter trying to dig into some juicy story for their tabloid. He smiled. The chairman decided to play along and see where this conversation leads to.

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then we will be coming for you."

"I'd like to see you get past all my men," answered Ayasaki to the caller with a chuckle. However, what came next was totally unexpected.

"Oh, but we already have."

In that instant, he looked at the caller ID display on the phone. It reads 'Conference Room 13'. The man tapped a device in front of him and calls for the lady from before. "Where's Conference Room 13?" The young lady was puzzled by the question but she answered soon afterwards.

"That room is right above yours, sir."

At that moment, his face turns deathly white and he felt that his strength was leaving him. He pressed another button and hollered to the device. "Get me the hell out of here!"

Half a dozen heavily armed men suddenly burst from the door. One of them headed to the bookshelves and pulled a book out. It triggered a series of mechanisms and caused the wall on their right-hand side to be lifted, revealing a hidden escalator door. The man places his palm on the sensor at the door of the escalator which opened as soon as the light turned green. The party entered the elevator while the chairman pulled out a chromed gun from a crevice inside the elevator before tucking it into his coat.

Twenty seconds later, the elevator door opens again and the chairman, bounded by his bodyguards trotted into the limousine parked not far from their exit. They were flanked by at least ten more men at their sides. As soon as the man entered the vehicle and its door was closed, they scrambled to the other three hummers.

The four vehicles paraded out from the basement of the building, with the leading vehicle distanced a bit further to clear the path for the rest of the convoy. Any vehicle that was in their way was rammed to the side of the road.

* * *

><p>Chairman Ayasaki was seated comfortably at the backseat of his limousine. He was holding his phone when he realised that something was out of place. They were not following the planned route of escape. A thought suddenly struck him. Before he could even tell the driver to turn around, they found that a lorry was obstructing their way. Almost in the same moment, a two-tonne garbage truck collided into the hummer right behind him and crushed the vehicle onto a building beside them, killing the passengers inside.<p>

The guards abandoned their vehicle to fend off their opponent in order to buy their principal enough time to escape the scene. Before they could even get a firm footing on the ground, a group of masked men exited the garbage truck in perfect coordination with another group coming from the lorry and began massacring the guards.

The chairman instinctively ducked as several bullets hit the window beside him but luckily, it was bullet-proof. The driver took advantage of the commotion and skilfully turned the vehicle around before speeding off to the highway.

Cold sweat began dripping from his temples. Chairman Ayasaki was breathing heavily and his heart raced wildly. An assassination attempt had just been made on him and for once in such a long period of time, he was horrified. He leaned on his seat and brushed his long hair behind him before falling into deep thought.

* * *

><p>His life had been a very satisfying one. He had a loving wife and a cute child. And his career? He was the chairman of one of the largest multi-national corporations that ever existed and his wealth could rival the richest man in the world. He had everything he had desired in his life, except for one small thing. Peace of mind. True, he now knew that to gain something, one must be prepared to lose something else in return. He was all too greedy before and didn't realize that single fact until it was too late. Now, he only wished that everyone would leave him and his family alone.<p>

Chairman Ayasaki let out a deep breath and looked up into the rear mirror. His driver was looking at him with a concerned expression. The latter then smiled reassuringly to the troubled man. "Don't worry Mr. Chairman. You're safe now."

He could not help himself but to smile in return. "Thank you very much Kujo- watch out!"

There was a screech and a loud shattering noise before everything went silent.

* * *

><p>His head felt as if it was breaking, and breathing came hard into his aching ribcage and every inch of his body felt like it was being slammed against a brick wall. He shook his head. <em>What had just happened? <em>One moment he was smiling to his driver and in another moment, everything suddenly went black. He lifted his head and found his driver, with his forehead perforated with a long metal pole. Right in front of them was the back of a pickup truck. Apparently they had a crash.

Chairman Ayasaki turned to himself. His coat was splattered with blood and several bits of white matter. Brain tissue from what it seemed. He wanted to get up and run, but remembered his motto for times of danger: _slow is smooth, smooth is fast._ The man took several breaths, counted his hands and feet, stretched his fingers and toes and determined that no serious damage had been done. The air felt so thick for him that breathing made him cough and jabbed sharp pains through his sides where a rib may have been cracked. When he raised his hand to his scalp, there was a patch of wet blood, but no gaping wound. His legs worked. He could move.

Using the front seat as a prop, he opened the door and supported himself to stand up. Everything suddenly came back to his mind and he knew he must run as hard and fast as he could, faster even. It was only a few steps from the crash before the man heard a click behind him. He knew at that moment that it was too late for him to do anything.

"Checkmate."

* * *

><p><em>Taking something from a person was all he did; and now, everything is going to be taken away from him.<em>


	2. Chapter 1: The Young Master

_Chapter 1 - The Young Master_

**2 years later  
>Cagnes-sur-Mer, Southeastern France<strong>

A Eurasian servant knocked twice on the door before entering the bedroom. He has been looking for the young master of the house for quite a while. An unexpected visitor had turned up and demanded to see his young master as soon as possible. After offering some dessert he making to the guest (which was turned down rudely), the servant quickly went out on a search for the said person. He concluded that his young master is asleep as it was still very early in the morning.

He entered the room and looked around. The entire place was lavishly decorated with paintings, statues, and flowers at the windowsill. In the center of the room was a long staircase that spiraled upwards to the bathrooms, which was equally as large; the bathtub looked like a miniature lake, complete with a fountain statue in the center. In fact, the only thing that didn't seem overdone in his room was the lighting; there was only one tall, lonely lamp in the entire whole area. There was also another bed, shelf, and closet on the other side of the room. The person he was looking for, however, was not there.

After his eyes were adjusted to the darkness of the room, he noticed that the door to the balcony was ajar. The manservant paced to the door and closed it. He was about to turn around and resume his search somewhere else when he saw a silhouette of a person sitting on the ledge outside, his head leaned against the pillar beside him. The servant instantly realise that the silhouette belonged to the person he was looking for. A smile crept on his face. Against all advice given to him, the teenager persists on sleeping outside although he knew very well that he could injure himself badly if he slipped when he was fast asleep.

The manservant reached his hands out to awake his young master, but promptly halted his action as he hears faint sobbing coming from the teenager. He couldn't help but to feel sorry for the youngster. Even though his young master tried to hide it, the servant knew that the loss of his father had affected him greatly. The incident had changed his personality from childish and friendly into cold and indifferent. He spent most of his time locked up in his room or staring at the sea. Perhaps, he still remembers his father's promise of taking him to the land beyond the sea; his birth country.

With a sigh, the teenager clears his throat and stood up before facing the butler. Although he trying to tell the butler that he was alright by smiling, he was betrayed by his reddened eyes from the crying. "Is there something wrong, Butler?"

"Don Sperazzo wishes to speak to you, young master. If…" the butler hesitated for a moment, but after looking into his employer's saddened eyes, he decided to continue for his principal's sake. "If you are not feeling well, I can ask him to meet you some other time."

He waited for the teenager's reaction and was surprised that the young master merely chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "It would be rude for me to do that now, wouldn't it? Now, could you please leave me for a moment, Butler? I need to change out of my pajamas. I'm sure he would laugh at me if he saw me wearing this."

"Very well then. I shall instruct him to the conference room when you are ready, young master."

"Thank you very much, Butler."

* * *

><p>After dressing himself in a pair of blue trousers that compliments his hair, a white T-shirt and a pair of Gucci loafers, the adolescent went down from his bedchamber to the conference room downstairs. He pushed the twin doors open and walked into the room, humming the song 'Frère Jacques'. Clasped in his left hand was a copy of the day's newspaper and a cup of coffee on the other.<p>

The conference room had originally been a banqueting hall. Until recently, the soaring Gothic arches were hidden by a false ceiling, but the young master of the house ordered it to be removed and the hall restored to its double-height glory.

He took his seat in black leather Marcel Breuer chair at the end of the glass topped table with space for ten more people and looked around him. _When father is still around, the seats here are occupied by smugglers, _thought the teenager. _Not to mention crime lords, hackers, insider traders, counterfeiters and politicians; the old family business._ The young master was about to take his last sip of coffee when the doors burst open.

A man in his mid-forties with tanned skin, strong handsome features, and long, dark hair curling over his collar strode into the hall conceitedly, followed suit by the manservant. He was quite tall, but not as huge as the seven-foot butler behind him. The man wore an Italian suit and a scarf was coiled around his neck. An expression of total arrogance was clearly visible on his face and when he stood before the teenager, it turned into a smirk.

The young master stood up in respect and gave the man a smile before offering his hand. The latter however, gave neither a smile nor his hand in return. "Ah, Don Sperazzo, please have a seat," Offered the adolescent while gesturing to the chair in front of him. Once again, the Italian ignored him.

"No thanks. I'm not here to have a chit-chat with a snot-nosed kid like you." The teenager's eye twitched a little when he was called that. However, he retained his cheerful expression and waited for the man to continue. "From this day forward, the Sperazzo Family would not answer to the Ayasakis anymore."

"Excuse me? Don Sperazzo, is it just me or-"

"You heard me clearly kid. The Ayasaki Family is not in control of the Sperazzo Family anymore. Do I need to spell it out for you?"

The smile on the youngster's face faded a bit. His expression was clouded slightly but he still kept himself in check. After a brief moment of silence, he finally spoke. "You do realise that I am your lifeline, don't you? We are making your rich. And being rich is good. It lets people be an ass wipe, people like you, as nature intends them to be." Retorted the teen casually and sat down again on his seat.

The Italian clenched his fist in anger, but managed to suppress it, after considering the fact that there's a giant behind him. His face on the other hand, turned red from the insult. "Get back to reality, you stupid kid. Your family is coming down with a crash. You're losing your grip over the other families since the head of your family disappears. Hell, what's that about making me rich? Last time I checked, the Ayasaki family is in the brink of bankruptcy." The man lashed the teenager with a triumphant smile. "The Ayasaki Family has been in power for too long. The other families are already in view of freeing themselves from your family's influence. Consider us, The Sperazzos, as the first one announcing that." With a spit to the floor, the man turned his back to the teenager and walked away.

It was only a few steps away before his ears picked up a soft chuckling from behind him. Then, a click. Almost instantly, he felt his scarf tightening around his neck, chocking him and he was pulled up by force. The only thing that is keeping him alive is the fact that the tip of his feet is still in contact with the floor, granting him some support if not much. He felt his life literally leaking away from him. It took him Herculean effort just to heave his breath into his lungs. The man felt dizzy, and he knew it's just a matter of time before he succumbs from the lack of oxygen.

"Now, Don Sperazzo," said the teenager as he stood before the man. "We could have worked together for our mutual benefit. It's a pity though," he paused with a childish smile. "Anyone who dares to oppose me shall be dealt with; quickly and severely." He bade the man a goodbye before leaving the room. Don Sperazzo tried to beg for his life, but his scarf was wounded tightly around him, hindering any efforts to speak. He was pulled up even more, relieving him the support of the floor beneath him. His feet kicked desperately to get loose from the constraint before his eyes finally rolled backwards and with a snap, he fell into a heap on the floor.

He was worried about his mother's condition. She had not seen the light of day in a long time now. Then again, should she miraculously recover, emerging revitalized from her bedchamber; it would signal the end of his own extraordinary freedom. It would be back off to school, and no more spearheading criminal enterprises for him. He knocked gently on the arched double doors.

* * *

><p>"Mother? Are you awake?" Something smashed against the other side of the door. It sounded expensive.<p>

"Of course I'm awake! How can I sleep in this blinding glare?"

The teenager ventured inside. An antique four-poster bed threw shadowy spires in the darkness, and a pale sliver of light poked through a gap in the velvet curtains. Angeline Ayasaki sat hunched on the bed, her pale limbs glowing white in the gloom.

"My dear son, darling, where have you been?" The teenager sighed. She recognized him. That was a good sign.

"School trip, Mother. Skiing in Austria."

"Ah, skiing," crooned Angeline. "How I miss it. Maybe when your father returns." The adolescent felt a lump in his throat. Most uncharacteristic.

"Yes. Perhaps when Father returns."

"Darling, could you close those wretched curtains. The light is intolerable."

"Of course, Mother."

He felt his way across the room, wary of the low-level clothes chests scattered about the floor. Finally his fingers curled around the velvet drapes. For a moment he was tempted to throw them wide open, but he sighed and closed the gap.

"Thank you, darling. By the way, we really have to get rid of that servant. He is good for absolutely nothing." The teenager held his tongue. Butler had been a hardworking and loyal member of the Ayasaki household for the past years. Time to use Mother's absent-mindedness to his advantage.

"You're right of course, Mother. I've been meaning to do it for some time. A friend of mine has a brother I believe would be perfect for the position. I think I've mentioned him. Butler?"

Angeline frowned. "Butler? Yes, the name does seem familiar. Well, anyone would be better than that silly man we have now. When can he start?"

"Straight away. I'll fetch him from the lodge."

"You're a good boy. Now give Mummy a hug." He stepped into the shadowy folds of his mother's robe. She smelled perfumed, like petals in water. But her arms were cold and weak.

"Oh, darling," she whispered, and the sound sent goosebumps popping down his neck. "I hear things. At night. They crawl along the pillows and into my ears." The teenager felt that lump in his throat again.

"Perhaps we should open the curtains, Mother."

"No," his mother sobbed, releasing him from her grasp. "No. Because then I could see them too."

"Mother, please." But it was no use. Angeline was gone. She crawled to the far corner of the bed, pulling the quilt under her chin.

"Send the new servant."

"Yes, Mother."

"Send him with cucumber slices and water."

"Yes, Mother." Angeline glared at him with crafty eyes. "And stop calling me Mother. I don't know who you are, but you're certainly not my little Haya-kun."

The teenager blinked back a few rebellious tears. "Of course. Sorry, Moth- Sorry."

"Hmm. Don't come back here again, or I'll have my husband take care of you. He's a very important man, you know."

"Very well, Mrs. Ayasaki. This is the last you'll see of me."

"It had better be." Angeline froze suddenly. "Do you hear them?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't hear any-"

"They're coming for me. They're everywhere." Angeline dived for cover beneath the bedclothes.

* * *

><p>He could still hear her terrified sobs as he descended the marble staircase. The teenager paused half-way down the stairs. His eyes were almost overrun by tears he had been holding back for so long. No matter how strong a person is, no matter how hard his heart is, there is no one who could stand seeing one's mother in that condition. To not be recognised by his own mother, to be forgotten by one's own family.<p>

The young master finally heaved a sigh. _No, this is not the time to become emotional, _told the teenager to himself firmly. He then headed back to the vacant conference room. As he walks to his seat, the teenager stopped when he reached a portrait hung at the side of the room. It was his family portrait. The portrait was painted during the picnic they had when he was only six years old. His eyes moved from his mother, himself and finally his father hugging the two of them with a wide smile across his face. _Father, what would you do now?_

"Young master, are you alright," asked the manservant in concern. The person in question however, made no response. He continued staring at the portrait silently and his face was blank without a hint of expression whatsoever.

_Father was right. There is no honour among thieves; only the survival of the fittest. I've always believed that loyalty exists. But now, I'm not so sure anymore. I trusted them, I cared for them and I respected them; and yet they abandoned me when I needed them the most. _The teenager sighed as he turned to face the rest of the room. _The Ayasaki Family had been the most powerful family for almost a century. Wherever we go, people would bow down before us; whether it was respect or even fear for some. We were looked up on because we had triumphed over so many trials and tribulation before; but none of them was of this gravity_. He sighed again before turning to his butler and asked him a question. "Butler, we are in a really deep trouble, aren't we?

"Well, I suppose after killing the don of the Italian and Sicilian mafia, they would surely be looking forward to have our heads. Not to mention a coup d'etat from the other families as well," the servant clears his throat before continuing. "Young master, we need to double our efforts for the search of the head of the family. I've already prepared a team to look for your father in Europe. I'm sure they will-"

The teenager chuckled as he heard the butler trying to reassure him. "Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that Father is still alive?" He waited for the servant to answer, but the butler remained silent and bit his lips as if trying to stop the words out his mouth. "He is dead. It's been almost two years since he went missing. The family is falling apart and our rivals are closing in on us; hard and fast. We have to do something before the entire Ayasaki family is wiped out."

Y-young master…" Butler was partially taken aback by his principal's sudden change. Earlier before, he was just an innocent14-year-old who cries over the loss of his father. Even before the master of the family was abducted, he had not put much hope of handing over his legacy to his son since he knew that the latter could not bear the immense responsibility that comes with it. He had always been the gentle one in the family. But now, his face was apathetic and his eyes were blank. It was like he no longer has his soul inside him; his body is just an empty shell. "Young master? Are you-"

"No, butler. I am not the young master anymore." The blue-haired paced for the head of the table. He pulled a drawer and took out a box and placed it on the table. He promptly opened the box and took out an old-fashioned silver ring with a jewel on top of it. _This ring has seen the death of its possessors; my forefathers. Being so close to it, I could almost hear them taking their last breaths in this wretched world. Am I ready to do it? _ He hesitated a moment, but he finally wore the ring on his finger. A triumphant smile spread across his face.

The servant immediately understood what his principal meant. The sudden change in personality could only mean one thing and one thing only. He slowly went down on one knee and his right hand was placed right where his heart is before the butler bowed down humbly. "Yes, _master_ Hayate Ayasaki."

Finally, the young teenager did what the others before him had done for generations. Claiming the seat of the Head of Ayasaki Family.

* * *

><p><em>Underestimate me if you dare; it will be your last mistake.<em>


End file.
